


Rule Breakers

by Clarisse (transnymphtaire)



Series: Advent Calendar 2016 [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Harry and Tom are brothers, Hospitals, M/M, Monsters, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 07:59:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8741584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transnymphtaire/pseuds/Clarisse
Summary: One of the hardest rules to break is to not have a soulmark, yet the rule gets broken twice.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is very self indulgent as I inspired myself with my other fic Of Monsters and Men. Also, don't think too hard about the Hospitals tag. I personally can't stand anything related to hospitals, so I decided to tag it as a warning.
> 
> Gigantic thanks to littwink for last-minute beta-ing <33

The universe is split into realms which all interact with one another. The Realm of Monsters is one such realm, a realm that was surprisingly known for its rules and harsh hierarchy. One of the rules - if you can call it such - is that soulmates was a human constraint. Monsters did not have soulmarks, and rule breakers would be exiled to the human realm where they “belonged”. Not that there has ever been a precedent for such— that a monster has been exiled because they had a soulmark — but the rule was there, nevertheless.

White words contrasted harshly against the dark abyss of his skin, taunting him with its existence. He covers them by constantly moving his many eyes; they didn’t stand out against the sclera. Looking at them is dangerous; he could be discovered, but he can’t help but be fascinated by the thought that there’s someone out there who will one day say, “ _I’m sorry - where should I be looking?_ ”. That there’s someone out there that the Fates have paired him with for eternity.

In another part of the monster realm, someone else glared at the red words staining his white skin with disgust. He’s above the realm of humans, and there’s no way that a monster would ever say “ _That’s a very rude thing to say!”_ to him of all beings. He is feared even among his own kind and for a very good reason. He slashed through the words with a sharp nail in the hope that the quickly regrown scales would be stronger than the ones that let the words shine through.

They both continued on with their lives to the best of their abilities, ignoring the words seared into their skin in favor of remaining in the realm that they were born in. Of course, the words would be useless if they were never revealed.

It happened in the most peculiar of circumstances. They were in completely different places but — as Providence would have it, if one was to believe in fate and the gods— projectiles appeared from nowhere and hit their hidden soulmarks at the same time.

An eye moved out of reflex to reveal white on black; scales were scraped off white skin to showcase red.

They met for the first time in the human realm, standing side by side.

“I didn’t expect to have company.” the black one said casually.

“Neither did I.” the white one answers.

They’re not soulmates, they’re not friends, they’re nothing, but they’re both rule breakers, and that has to count for something.

“Hadrian.” the black one introduced himself.

“Voldemort.” the other answers.

* * *

The human world is not easy to maneuver though when one has skin alike the void with his many emerald eyes twinkling like the stars in the sky, sharp-toothed smiles and a pair of bloodred lips, while the other resembled an albino serpent with sharp nails, red eyes, and a poison tongue. They stand out amongst the crowd of humans; most monsters knew better than to break the rules. They’re outcasts in both their own realm and this one, but they hadn’t expected otherwise since they first saw the words form upon their skin.

It’s harder still to maneuver the human world together when they have drastically different ideas; Voldemort has a preference for blood and shedding it, whereas Hadrian only wanted to adapt to the new world they found themselves in. They have nothing, and they need nothing, but if they started offing humans they would soon become nothing as well, and that’s a fate that both of them wanted to avoid. Perhaps it would have been better if they did not stick together, but Hadrian believed that Voldemort needed to be controlled for the safety of humans, while Voldemort thinks that Hadrian can be controlled.

What they had was definitely not friendship, and it will never be, but that doesn’t matter. It was something, if only a reminder of the world that they were exiled from.

* * *

It’s a weekday in one of the warmer months when Hadrian wanders the town they found themselves in, while Voldemort preferred to nap in a sunny spot. He has not taken the time to familiarize himself properly with humanity before now and has not bothered to find out where they were. It’s underneath the equally judging and frightened stares of humans that Hadrian plays tourist.

They’re in London, which is the capital of England, which is part of something both called the United Kingdom and Europe. Hadrian doesn’t care to know more than that, and instead was fascinated with the posters of scantily clad women that were posted on billboards and bus stops. Some of them are so thin that it must be unhealthy for humans, and he can’t help but model his own already thin waist after theirs. Shapeshifting is a lovely ability, and he used it to resemble Death himself — if Death looked like a skeleton with bones cloaked in fabric woven of the void, with eyes and teeth patterned without a clear pattern.

He’s looking at a poster of a well-dressed man, considering to adapt the same sharp cheekbones, when someone walks into him. Hadrian turns around; he has no need to with eyes all over his back, but he wants to be polite. A young man, more handsome than the one he had been considering on the poster, looks up at him, meeting the two eyes placed as a human's, and then the ones scattered all over his body.

“I’m sorry - where am I supposed to be looking?” the human asks. Hadrian’s blood red lips quirked into something resembling a smile.

“My eyes are up here.” he answers, with a gesture towards the two placed on each side of the oval eye that takes up the place a human’s nose would be.

“Oh - oh!” the human stutters, caught off guard for a moment. “I’ve always wondered why I would have those words; I haven’t made a habit of looking at women's bosoms.”

“You don’t mind then? I’ve always expected you to run away no matter the polite quality of your words.” Hadrian inquires, curious about the strange specimen of human.

“Why would I mind?” the human asks. “You’re breathtaking.”

“I prefer Hadrian.” Hadrian answer, his lips quirking once more as he holds back laughter. It takes a moment before the human understands.

“Apologies - I’m Tom. Tom Riddle.”

Hadrian smiles as he shapeshifts to better match Tom’s height, making himself a bit shorter in the process. He takes the liberty to link his arm around Tom’s and lean his head against Tom’s shoulder.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll stick to you for a little bit. I don’t know London very well.”

“I’m on my way to visit my brother in the hospital.” Tom answers, and starts to lead the way.

* * *

When Hadrian returns to Voldemort’s side later that day, his appearance was different than when he left that morning. He’s shorter, thinner, and the wisps of smoke that makes up his hair are wilder.

“I found my soulmate.” he explains with something akin to budding love in his voice, but closer to possessiveness to an experienced eye.

Voldemort scowls and says nothing.

* * *

A month passes by with Hadrian spending more time together with Tom, forcing Voldemort to interact with the human. He much preferred it when the supposedly younger monster — or at least younger-acting — wasn’t disturbing him all the time. He might not have much to do in the human realm - he has conceded to Hadrian’s point that murdering humans for the fun of it would not go unnoticed - and therefore had no good excuse to not spend time with the human.

It does in no way explain how he got roped into visiting the human’s brother in the hospital.

He can only think about how pleasant the white walls would look if they were covered in fresh blood as Hadrian and the human lead the way through the corridors. The smell of the hospital is unpleasant, and he misses the sunny spot that he has made into a temporary home. He and Hadrian had still not gotten around to trying to find a real home; they’re awfully limited by being the only monsters in a town full of humans. The humans are only a hindrance because of the rules he was restricted to; Voldemort could imagine multiple ways to get a permanent home for the two of them with the help of bloodshed.

“We’re here.” the human says at last as they stopped in front of a nondescript door. Voldemort impatiently waited for the door to be opened, but when it wasn't, he pushed his way inside first in the hope of being met with either a more pleasant smell or walls in another colour of white. He snarls at the monotony in frustration, before looking towards the only inhabitant of the room.

There’s a pale boy lying amongst the white sheets of a hospital bed, emerald eyes almost identical to Hadrian’s with the only difference being the humanity within them, and wild hair just as much of a bird nest as Hadrian’s wisps of smoke has become. Voldemort is only slightly taken aback by the likeness to his fellow exile; it reminds him of the old lore that there’s a corresponding human for every monster. He is oddly fascinated by the thought of Hadrian’s human corresponding with him, although the only likenesses they share is facial structure.

“Why did we come, now again?” he asks, when neither Hadrian or Hadrian’s human makes any move besides entering the room and closing the door behind them. The human on the bed suddenly smiles, and it’s as if he swallowed the sun.

“That’s a very rude thing to say!” the human exclaims, and it sounds much happier than the tilt of the words on Voldemort’s arm makes it out to be. He feels disgusted.

“Is it now?” he drawls.

“Harry,” Hadrian interrupts. “This is Voldemort. He’s a bit of an old codger, but mostly he’s just an arsehole.”

Voldemort ignores the insult. He has more important things to care about.

“Why is the human in the hospital?” he demands to know, infuriated at his connection to someone so weak.

“Why is anyone ever in the hospital?” Harry asks, with a small laughter.

“Because he’s an idiot.” Hadrian’s human replies. “He would have been out already if he wasn’t.”

“The nurse said that I’ll only have to stay a week more.” Harry answer with a pout.

* * *

Harry stays in the hospital for four months; Voldemort finds himself visiting every day. No one ever tells him the reason that Harry is in the hospital, and he doesn’t particularly care. He didn’t want a soulmate in the first place, and he’s only keeping Harry company because he has nothing better to do. Hadrian is never there, and he thinks he has more to talk about with Harry than he ever did with Hadrian anyway.

At least that’s what he tells himself up until the point when Harry is released from the hospital, and he can choose between going back to living on the streets - but alone this time - or move in with Harry, Hadrian, and Hadrian’s human.

It’s perhaps not what he would have chosen for himself, but there’s no need to act as a monster among humans, and he has to admit that he rather likes Harry’s company. Hadrian and Hadrian’s human are not so bad either.

Sometimes you just have to break some rules in order to find happiness.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: this is roughly one and a half hour late in my timezone! I wasn't really at home and in front of a computer until around 8pm today though, and as I didn't have anything pre-written for this...
> 
> I've planned out day 4 at least, so tomorrow it should be better with time! And I got an idea for one of the missing days earlier, so it's only the last day that I need to come up with something great for.


End file.
